The Beast Of Adlerrie Court

The Beast of Adlerrie Court

I

The beast only prowled at night.  He engulfed his innocent victims in heartless violence then ran in fear of the rising sun.  No man was he.  An animal.  A shameful image that plagued our village.  No one saw him and those that did laid in broken pieces ripped by the anger of someone who lived in the darkest evil.

The night had been uneventful when the call came into the police station.  Another victim had been found.  Citizens of Thebes I now feel your terror of having with you a murderer of which you don’t know.  As he lives apart from us he also lives within.  With the exile of this thing, again answer, yet too many questions.  I pray every night for his capture.

II

All my life my eyes have been opened to darkness.  Beaten as a child by my father, witnessing my mother’s suicide, and accidentally taking my brother’s life, had wounded me more than any doctor could imagine.  I learned to notice the eyes around me.  My father’s eyes glazed in anger which was often intensified by his intoxication.  With every punch I received, with every burn into my tender flesh and with every hateful word, I fell into a world of my own.  My mother’s eyes reflected a quiet pain.  The years she endured with my father, pulled at her mind, body and her soul.  Not unlike a band of rubber, when pulled to tight it eventually snaps. This was how she lived.  My brother’s eyes gleamed of laughter as he lay lifeless on the carpet of our living room.  We were only playing, yet no one believed the truth.  No one believes a mistake.  My brother will always be five.  Never will he experience life, yet he will always be with me.  He was the only person I loved and will always be.

III

What makes this madman take hold and capture lives not of his own?  What has happened to this man to make him so inhuman?  Does he suffer within himself as he makes us suffer?  Why must he reel his power onto people he does not know?  Maybe we do know him.  Maybe this lunatic comes out in the day.  No one alive has witnessed his actions.  Could he be with us now as we speak?  Terrible phantom, angel of Satan, sin no more.  Bring life to our homes and leave, nameless, faceless and alone.

IV

Having been institutionalized for ten years, I lived through days full of emptiness and nights full of pain.  The world is my enemy as well as my destroyer.  All I’ve ever known is hate.  The destruction of my life was by people who had destroyed their own.  I have no legacy.  I have no one to pass down all the cruelty I’ve shared.  I must find someone to release the anguish of life as it was once wrought upon me.  No one can stop me.  I was invisible then and I continue to be now.

V

A posse we, the townspeople, will form.  A crusade against this beast of Adlerrie Court.  We are strong and we shall triumph.  The forest is dense, yet as we trample through, we will reap the rewards that now we sow.  Good will always overcome evil in war.  This, my fine fellows, is exactly what we’re fighting.  We will prevail.

VI

The end is near.  I can feel it deep in the marrow of my bones.  My sleep is restless and I feel drawn to the forest.  The moon lights my way.  As my pace quickens, my brain throbs.  I know nothing else.  My tears dried a long time ago, but I have never been able to stop asking the question “why?”.  I never asked for any of this.  Why must my life always be at stake? I never had a chance to live…

VII

His steps are laid out for us.  I f we follow his trail, we will be triumphant.

VIII

…to trust…

IX

His wrath shall end and our peace will be reborn.

X

…to give…

XI

Trapped on all sides.  Heavy breathing common to such a victim of slaughter.  His eyes glaze yet he seems content with a smile on his face.  What is he thinking?  He almost seems eager to die.  One step forward he makes and a single shot fires from a barrel.  It bore through his heart.  He fell so lightly.

XII

…to love.

Author's Note

This is another story I wrote in high school in about 1986. It's written in two parts with each part taking a turn. It's starts off with the townspeople of Adlerrie Court and then the man who is terrorizing the town. It keeps going back and forth throughout the story.

Reviews

[JENY]

A touching story….
A different form of narration…
Insecurity is always a byproduct of the environment….in which we live..
It haunts us…till we find a haven to compensate it….
Loved the story..
Thanks for sharing..